An MP for one of the communities affected by a mysterious spate of red paint and graffiti attacks has written to the Home Office to call for an investigation into what appears to be a series of similar incidents across English cities.
Police are now investigating whether there is a link between a series of attacks in which red paint has been splattered on the front doors of houses at night, often accompanied with the daubing of numbers and the word “brothel”.
Liverpool, Bradford, Reading, Huddersfield, Clacton-on-Sea in Essex and a number of London boroughs have all experienced similar attacks, with several taking place in east London in recent weeks.
The MP for Walthamstow in east London, Stella Creasy, has written to the policing minister, Diana Johnson, to seek assistance for an investigation into the wave of criminal attacks, which she said was causing concern and distress to residents and their families.
“Evidence from across the country shows that strikingly similar crimes have been repeated elsewhere,” she added.
“Despite this open-source information, this pattern and the possible connection between these attacks does not as yet appear to have been made … given the pattern of evidence of these incidents across the country I am writing to you as the policing minister to seek your assistance to as to how to ensure this matter is escalated for national attention.”
People in Walthamstow whose houses were spattered with red paint this week, said on Wednesday that children were scared by what they thought was blood and expressed concerns about the cost of cleaning and repainting.
The incidents have given rise to widespread speculation on community Facebook groups and elsewhere, with different theories being put forward.
However, a member of the Chinese diaspora in Britain pointed out similarities to the practices of Chinese criminal gangs abroad, including loan sharks and illegal debt collectors. A number of people with Chinese heritage are said to be among those living in properties that have been targeted in England.
A UN refugee agency report in 2023 cited the splashing of red paint on doors by loan sharks associated with criminal Triad gangs to intimidate debtors when they don’t pay.
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Hong Kong and Singapore are among cities that have experienced the problem, sometimes with numbers and the word “brothel” also being daubed on properties, while handwritten notes have also been left at the scene, as was the case in Walthamstow.
In some cases, the red paint attacks abroad also target the property of the debtor’s family, friends or neighbours to demonstrate a debt collectors’ capacity for harassment.
The Metropolitan police have said the incidents in Waltham Forest are being investigated by its local safer neighbourhoods team to ensure all investigative leads are explored.
”At this stage there has been no arrest and enquiries into the circumstances continue, including to establish if there is a link to other incidents outside the local and London areas,” the Met said in a statement.
Source: theguardian.com
